MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS - Gospel (John 19:25-27) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“Woman, behold, your son. Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother.” (Jn 19:26-27)

FIRST READING - 1 Tim 2:1-8

"There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all."

A reading from the First letter to Timothy

¹ First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, ² for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. ³ This is good and pleasing to God our savior, ⁴ who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.

⁵ For there is one God.There is also one mediator between God and the human race,Christ Jesus, himself human,⁶ who gave himself as ransom for all.

This was the testimony at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed preacher and apostle (I am speaking the truth, I am not lying), teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Jn 19:25-27

"Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother."

✠From the Gospel according to John

^25 [a]Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother^[b] and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

MEMORIAL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS - Gospel (John 19:25-27)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

The Word of God in today's Gospel speaks of the suffering of the Blessed Mother Mary, when she witnessed her beloved Son, Jesus.

Jesus Christ died painfully and humiliatingly on the cross. The image of Jesus Christ dying on the cross demonstrates God's love for all humanity, and Mother Mary shared in the sufferings of her Son, to collaborate in God's plan of salvation.

Today, all humanity contemplates the sorrow of the Blessed Mother, and together professes faith in Jesus Christ who suffered death and rose again. She cooperated and united herself with the sufferings of Jesus Christ: when He was nailed to the Cross, she too endured pain, and through her communion with His sufferings, humanity has received the grace of salvation.

Due to this, the Word of God today calls all people to cooperate and unite themselves with the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the Cross, for only by passing through suffering can one attain glory. God reveals that suffering is a mystery when it comes from Him, but suffering that does not lead toward God is suffering that comes from Satan. The Blessed Mother’s acceptance of suffering is a model for all humanity to follow: from the moment she first gave her “yes” to God in accepting to bear the Son of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, until the moment her Son died a humiliating death on the Cross, completing the work of salvation on earth, she demonstrated her total cooperation in God’s saving plan.

The Word of God in Sacred Scripture recounts the sorrows of the Blessed Mother:

First: Saint Simeon prophesied to the Blessed Mother.

Second: The Blessed Mother took the Child Jesus and fled into Egypt.

Third: The Child Jesus remained in the Temple, and the Blessed Mother sought Him for three days.

Fourth: The Blessed Mother encountered Jesus carrying the Cross.

Fifth: The Blessed Mother stood beside the Cross of Jesus, her beloved Son, as He gave up His spirit.

Sixth: Two disciples took down the body of Jesus and placed it in the arms of the Blessed Mother with reverence.

Seventh: The disciple laid the body of Jesus in a new tomb.

In the face of those sorrows, the Blessed Mother never complained nor reproached God, questioning why He allowed her to suffer so greatly; rather, she silently pondered all things within her heart and quietly followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ throughout His Passion. This image reveals that she obeyed God with absolute fidelity in order to cooperate in the plan of humanity’s salvation.

Today, God calls all His children to look upon the example of the Blessed Mother as she stood beneath the Cross, and to learn to accept the suffering that have fallen upon us. For only through suffering can one attain the glory and happiness of the Kingdom of Heaven. And in order to receive the glory of Heaven, each person must learn to embrace suffering as she did, by carrying the cross with Jesus up to Calvary, to die and rise again with Him.

Blessed Mother Mary has left for all humanity a model of obedience and cooperation with God in His plan of redeeming mankind.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

19:00 September 15, 2025 - Prayer of Divine Mercy - The Way to Heaven